Game in a nutshell: Bryce Harper and Jayson Werth were both banged up, but both guys were in the lineup for the finale of this important, four-game series. Neither looked 100 percent, though, with Harper going 0-for-4 and Werth having to leave the game in the fifth inning. No problem, because the rest of the Nationals lineup produced three early runs off Kris Medlen. And then Dan Haren went to work. Did he ever. The veteran right-hander was dominant over eight superb innings, allowing only Dan Uggla's solo homer in the seventh and picking up right where Jordan Zimmermann left off the night before. Rafael Soriano closed out his second straight win as the Nationals salvaged a four-game split with the Braves, leaving town with a 15-14 record, 2 1/2 games behind Atlanta in the NL East.

Hitting highlight: The offense came early and often for the Nationals, who pounced on Medlen for three quick runs, ignited by their leadoff man. Denard Span began the game with a double into the right-field corner, then scored moments later on SteveRead more »

Untucked! Yes, that is the way the Nats can play. Really solid all around, and with Harper and Werth hurting, the other guys picked them up. Great games to watch, these last two. Oh, and the Barves are on a two-game losing streak, just sayin….

Drew said… We saw this movie July 21, 2012. The team was struggling and the most unlikely starter of all came up huge against the Braves.A great movie is great every time.Casablanca, bay-bee. GYFNG! May 02, 2013 9:40 PM ____________________________Yep, who would have thunk it!

Mick, Mick!! Are you there?Not saying Haren will win the Cy Young but you can come off the ledge now and please stop judging someone who has been in the league as long as he has on just 3 or 4 starts. 2.5 games out guys.I loved watching Rendon tonight. Just some regular major league plays at third but what I really like is how happy he is to be here. Not sure men are supposed to enjoy other men smiling but I like it.Go Nats! Hope the in-game is going well people.

BTW.. I called it tonight *Pats myself on the back* MicheleS said… I have a good feeling about tonight with Haren. I don't know why, but I think he has turned a corner and will be solid for us for the rest of the year.May 02, 2013 6:09 PM

OK, so maybe don't fire RIzzo today? Span .274 WPA, Haren .357, Soriano .083. Keep RIzzo until tomorrow, right?Even LaRoche is on the positive side, with +.047. And Rendon, Rizzo's signed him, +.049 and that's just for the offense.No errors, just enough offense, great pitching–this is the team Rizzo had in mind.

MicheleS said… BTW.. I called it tonight *Pats myself on the back*____________________________You called it! I wasn't feeling it until the Nats scored 1st! Haren had nasty stuff and barely had to throw the split tonight. Cutter was working most of the night to weak contact.Justin Upton didn't pad his HR lead against the Nats in this 4 game series.

" Feel knows a lot about baseball and he's a STH. He also has a very identifiable commenting style. He's opinionated, aggressive, and sometimes just plain mean. He's picked fights with and offended many a regular commenter over the years."Physician, heal thyself."He seems to have a visceral dislike for me and often quotes my posts in italics and ridicules them."Ooooo. Ooooo. He quoted my text, and, and…he disagreed with it. How dare he!Wow. For a group of people who hated me and everything I said when I was commenting here, you all sure do talk a lot about me when I'm no longer here. Pat yourselves on the back, you've created the internet's only self-trolling web site. You should apply for a patent or something.What else can I say but to quote Van Morrison? Rave on John Donne, rave on thy holy foolDown through the weeks of agesIn the moss borne dark dank pools

Peric will cr@p his pants if Rendon starts playing 2nd base!I'm just very impressed with how Rendon rode the pine for a couple of days and came back and looked great out there. The game slowed down for him and he looked very comfortable.

Ghost.. I had an interesting twitter discussion with Keith Olbermann last year… Regarding HROD.. I apply it to Danny.. The Nats are beyond working on projects at the MLB level. Either you step up or step aside for someone better.

I would send Rendon to Syracue to play second. Give him a few weeks to get fielding down. Then give Danny 2-3 weeks to get his act straight. (had 2 years already)By June 1 Danny might need to DL that shoulders.

This was nice. Starters are settling in. Offense showing signs of life. Bullpen semi- retired. Too many people dinged up, though. Nice to see that we now have both catchers in sync with the staff- that is pretty sweet.

FYI my buddy from High school (Not Big Cat , but a non blogger ) have tickets for the three games @ PNC. We are behind home 12th row.I will wear mmy 11 jersey Friday. Playoff t shirt Ssturday, and 34 Sunday. Wearing the hat given out opening game.Anyone else going?

NatsJack in Florida said… Haren has trouble when he doesn't cut his fastball. When he's at 86-87 (cutter) he has good command. When he tries to hump up to 89-90 he loses command.Yep — last week I heard (or read?) an interview about this.Haren had said that after all his back troubles last year — this year he felt fantastic and strong — the strongest he's felt in years, and, because of that, he kept throwing his cutter too hard.If that was the case and finally dialed it down, and he can do this consistently, then, wow — what a boost for the team. A really terrific outing for him.

I did not realize how good Pittsburgh is playing at home. This will not be an easy series. Also did not realize that Burnett was leading the NL in strikeouts. Just two out of three please!!Not a faux GM either but I keep Espinosa up as long as I am convinced he is not hurt. A slump is one thing, an injury is entirely different.

Cwj said… Not buying the send Espinosa to the minors deal.But, I'm no fake GM May 02, 2013 10:10 PM ______________________________Hah! It won't be for a while so don't worry. Let's see how much Rizzo is committed to win now. If Rendon starts playing every day at 2nd base, then we will know.

MicheleS said… Ghost.. I had an interesting twitter discussion with Keith Olbermann last year… Regarding HROD.. I apply it to Danny.. The Nats are beyond working on projects at the MLB level. Either you step up or step aside for someone better. May 02, 2013 10:07 PM _______________________________Bo Porter could use some more Nats castoffs.I think we will know very soon what Rizzo's plan is for Rendon.Rendon definitely left me wanting more!

MNF, I'm headed to Pgh too. Will be there on Friday night and Saturday. Going to try out the Pittsburgh Baseball Club (their version of the S&S Club) on Saturday. If you want, put your seat location on the NIDO Spreadsheet in the Who's Going tab. I put a row in for you. Very excited to see Det and Stras pitch on the road, especially now that we have our winnings ways back.

Just thinking about the great memories of Pittsburgh. Both boys saw their first major league game in Pittsburgh (1984). We could walk up and get seats behind home plate on game day! It was a 90 min. drive but totally worth it.

You know – I hear everything you say about Espi and his talent. But Lombo plays two games and has already started to adjust and fix his approach. He just plays the game smarter. And his defense is good. This is not black and white. With all the unstrung hamstrings and regular tweaks of various body parts going on I think lots of people will be getting starts.

About Mattheus:Honestly, I'd prefer we used Mattheus over Clip in high leverage situations. He's proven he can handle that, he has nasty stuff. When Clip is on, he's fantastic, but his walks are killer.But I don't want to dwell on that stuff after a win.

baseballswami said… You know – I hear everything you say about Espi and his talent. But Lombo plays two games and has already started to adjust and fix his approach. He just plays the game smarter. And his defense is good._______________________________I don't know what Lombo was thinking Wednesday and today he looked like the player you would expect. If Lombo keeps playing like that, Rendon won't be needed until September!I'm not saying Lombo is a better player but I believe if he can do the job, Rizzo won't be under the pressure to bring up Rendon as the starting 2nd baseman.

Why did we put Zim on the DL for the hammy but not Werth? Wasn't the logic with Zim that it's nothing serious, but we don't want it creeping up again and again throughout the season? Seems that logic would apply to Jayson too.

David Proctor said… Why did we put Zim on the DL for the hammy but not Werth? Wasn't the logic with Zim that it's nothing serious, but we don't want it creeping up again and again throughout the season? Seems that logic would apply to Jayson too._______________________________I guess you can try to rationalize it like you did and you could be right. Zim was scuffling big time when he went on the DL. He was in a slump and had a bunch of errors.I'm more surprised that RZ didn't play a bunch of rehab games. He played 1 game in A ball and went 0-3. Bleh.

The fact that Zim didn't play more rehab games and doesn't think the layoff helped his throwing makes me think that the DL stint was legitimately about being injured, not an excuse to work on some things. Let's just hope that all this confidence in him from Davey is warranted. He needs to start hitting.

sjm308 said…Just thinking about the great memories of Pittsburgh. I have some ones too, I watch the 69 and 79 Pirates at Shea and Memorial. Moose, Blass, Alley, MAZ, (one of my top 5 favorites of all time, his plane crashed the day the Redskins won NFC Championship 1972) Roberto C, Freddie Patak, Al Oliver, ol Wille Starg and Dave Parker, Manny Sang, and Doc Ellis!!!

Section 222, Zim was definitely injured. Last year off of his injury he came back and struggled for a while as if he was rehabbing in MLB games. Being away for 2 weeks and only having 1 rehab start that didn't go well seems premature. I'm surprised Zim didn't play in tonight's game with one of the Minor League teams. Again, these aren't the Acta years where you could do stuff like that. This team is supposed to be going for the post-season.

David Proctor said… If anyone needed more proof that Wins are a meaningless stat:Mark Zuckerman ‏@ZuckermanCSN 1mStat of the Night: Dan Haren has as many wins as Stephen Strasburg and Gio Gonzalez combined. May 02, 2013 11:04 PM ____________________________________Well that's true on the W/L stat but let's be real here, Haren pitched a gem and his start tonight trumped any start Strasburg has thrown so far.

Mick – you are the man.Good thoughts on why Werth not put on dl. We actually have depth in the minors in the outfield but I am guessing Werth was not hurt as badly.I feel for Bernadina. Must be hard to try and break out when he never knows when he will be playing. Still, how long will they stay with his non-production? He left runners in scoring position twice. Have to hope Zimm will come back strong but like others, I am skeptical. I also wonder if he spent time working on his arm while rehabbing the hamstring.

sjm308 said… Have to hope Zimm will come back strong but like others, I am skeptical. I also wonder if he spent time working on his arm while rehabbing the hamstring. _______________________________We will know in less than 24 hours how the next chapter will go for Zim.All we can do is hope.

I've probably been haren's biggest critic this year. I've said he is done , a waste of money etc. Well tonight I take my hat off to him. He was tremendous. Keep it up my boy. And to Peric, I've got to admit that Rendon can handle the stick. When he kept his hands inside of that 90 mph and lined it up the middle, that was a thing of beauty. The AB before against the sidewinder, he fell behind in the count but battled a BB out if it. Espi would of flailed helplessly against him. I think davey and riz need to look real hard at the 2B position right now. If its me I send espi to Harrisburg and move on with Lombo and rendon there. Rendon can also spell zim at 3b and ph off the bench. Espi has had 2 years to come out of his funk and it ain't gonna happen. Also Keep eck away from rendon!!

BigCat said… I've probably been haren's biggest critic this year. I've said he is done , a waste of money etc. Well tonight I take my hat off to him. He was tremendous. Keep it up my boy.As many were saying: you can't evaluate a trade, or even how one player's season (or a team's season) is going to end up when you just look at April.

I heard an interview with Zim where he said he really needed five days to a week but needed to go on the DL so Davey wasn't playing with a short roster. 15 was too long, but it was the only way. He felt could have played after the first week but you can't come off until 15. Fresh as a daisy. We hope.

@Sec 222 . I posted my seats, we are fairly close Friday night's game. I wrote down your section on a piece of paper to take. I got to the spread sheet through your link, but have no clue how to other wise. Added one my games in June, but not my Memorial day game, as a friend has those tickets so I do not know the section, so I guess I will figure out how to get the sheet later (or just refer back to your note from last night.

MNF, just bookmark the page for the NIDO Spreadsheet. I think that's pretty much the only way to find it, which is probably a good thing. I'll look for you tonight. I imagine there will be lots of Nats fans there, but the Bucs are playing well, and judging from StubHub (just 1200 seats still on sale) and the Pirates ticket site, looks like this weekend series is going to draw well.

Haren looked great. He doesn't need speed just location and mix ala Glavin/Maddox. Lombo is like a hockey player that constantly puts the puck on net. He's going to give us great, reliable production in the lineup. I see him with many 3/4 games. Great plate Approach.